By 1993, developers had long maxed out what was possible on the humble NES. Prison City resembles a game from this era – something that would have dazzled late NES owners alongside such gems as Kirby’s Adventure, Batman: Return of the Joker, and Mighty Final Fight. Although, it would have definitely required a few additional …
Around ten years ago, arcade management sim ArcadeCraft arrived on the Xbox 360’s unregulated XBLIG store. A shining beacon in a sea of trash, it was more than worthy of a full release on XBLA. Arcade Tycoon falls into the same genre, favouring tidy pixel art over ArcadeCraft’s 3D visuals, and just like ArcadeCraft it …
It’s funny how certain colour palettes recall individual formats. The unmistakable combo of pink and cyan for CGA, for instance. As the name suggests, 8-Colors Star Guardians + opts for a limited colour palette, recalling the humble ZX Spectrum. Whereas the Speccy was known for its hard as concrete platformers and mixed bag of arcade conversions, …
I love board games. There’s nothing better than getting friends together, rolling dice, and dealing cards. In the last decade, there’s been an influx of interesting board games, powered by interesting decisions and video game inspired mechanics. Now board games are feeding back into video games in interesting ways, influencing people like Gamma Minus – …
Sniff around the internet for a while, and you’ll find Dungeons of Sundaria described as “World of Warcraft without the world.” It’s an apt description as this hack ‘n slash role-player doesn’t have an overworld to connect its dungeon-like locations. Instead of rolling fields and such to freely explore, the game’s frontend comprises of dull, …
This top-down, twin-stick, Roguelike shooter stars a small robot with swappable body parts. It’s an idea that ties into the upgrade system perfectly, with each body part giving new abilities and having its own stats. Not only this, but they vary radically in size and colour too. Something is endearing about seeing the initially cute, boxy …
Influenced by Evangelion, Gundam, and other mech-filled anime, HARDCORE MECHA – originally released on Switch, and now available on Xbox One – takes the form of a side-scrolling shooter with platforming elements. The SNES classic Cybernator (also known as Assault Suits Valken) is a reasonable comparison, only this is far more contemporary. Even the humble SEGA …
With the Metroidvania genre as crowded as it is, it certainly helps to have a few gimmicks to stand out. Cookie Cutter isn’t short on personality and style, and you won’t have to look far for a sprinkling of fresh ideas either. These don’t immediately come to light, however – even during the opening its …
A sign of strong world building is when it takes a while for certain elements to sink in, either due to a unique lexicon being used or elements working in an unconventional way that later makes sense. That’s certainly the case here. This side-scrolling action RPG, clearly inspired by the Paper Mario series, takes place …
There’s a lot to be said for simplicity in the world of gaming. New iterations of Tetris continue to engage veterans and newcomers alike, barely a year goes by without a new variant of Pac-Man, while Vampire Survivors – and its slew of clones – simply involve circling enemies with everything else handled automatically. Ideally, …
“You’re now ready,” duly informed Hell Well’s tutorial. Only, this wasn’t quite the case. I fumbled my way through to this point, not really understanding what kind of objectives Hell Well has in store. It also didn’t help that the UI is presented in an abstract way, favouriting ‘1-bit’ style pixel art. Fortunately, in less …
Chess pieces are the collectable of choice in this outdoorsy 3D platformer, replacing customary spinning gold stars and giant coins. This isn’t quite as random as it seems, with the mystical one-of-a-kind chess set being a symbol of balance. Black and white. Light and dark. Ying and Yang. After the pieces become scattered, our spritely …
Had this 2D platformer launched in the ‘90s, it would likely be mentioned in the same sentence as Natsume’s Pocky & Rocky and Konami’s Goemon (aka The Legend of Mystical Ninja,) due to it featuring similar sights. This too uses ancient Japanese folklore as its central theme, set in a world full of yōkai of …
The key to making a compelling construction sim is ensuring players always have something to focus on, such as town planning and micromanaging citizens, or perhaps introducing something that requires intervention often. The fear of progress going awry when your back is turned can make an experience all the more addictive. The Station, developers of …
When the humble Evercade launched in 2020 alongside some tired-looking Atari and Namco collections, offering not much we hadn’t seen before, I never expected that just three years later it would host a suite of Duke Nukem games – making the system the best way currently possible to legally sample the beefy brute’s past exploits. …